The Sun. — London, England, 1864-03-16 00:00:00

1 , n7.PERIAL P HOUSE OF LORDS—Last Evening, T he LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack t he usual hour. DENMARK. T he Earl of ELLENBOROUGH gave notice that on the .motion for the adjournment of the house for the Easter receso ho should call the attention of their lordships to the exact state of affairs between Germany and Denmark. In the absence of the noble earl the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, he begged to ask the noble duke opposite whether the 'cerms of the identical note, which appeared in the newspapers this morning, containing new proposals from Austria and Prussia to Denmark for an armistice and Congress, were authentic? The Duke of SOMERSET said, in the absence of the noble earl the Secretary for Foreignkffairs, it would not be expedient for him to say more than that the terms in the note appearing in the Morning Post on the subject of an armistice were substantially correct. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills were read a third time and passed : Belfast and Northern Counties Railway ; Belfast and Ballymena and Ballycastle Junction Railway ; and Trent end Ancholme and Grimsby Railway. INSANE PRISONERS ACT AMENDMENT BILL. On. the motion of the LORD CHANCELLOR, the bill was referred to a select committee. MALT FOR, ANIMALS BILL. lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY moved the second reading of this bill. Lord BERNERS gave notice that he should move cer- Lain amendments to various clauses in committee. Earl GREY regretted the introduction of the bill, be cause it appeared to him to endanger a revenue of extreme importance. He considered that nothing more injurious to the landed interest of the country could occur than the repeal of the malt tax. It was a tax paid by the con sumer, and in the event of such a source of revenue, amount ing to £6,000,000, being swept away, an increase of taxa tion must be sought in another direction. That increase could only be attained by an increase in the income tax, than which nothing more was to be deprecated by the landed interest. He thought the malt tax was one that ought to be retained, and those who were agitating for a re peal of it were agitating in favour of an increase in the in come tax. The Duke of ARG YLL said that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had introduced the measure, being fully assured tho revenue would not suffer. The Earl of HARDWICKE objected to the bill. Lord REDESDALE was of opinion that the malt tax was altogether indefensible. Lord WODEH OUSE thought it ought to be clearly un derstood that a repeal of the malt tax would more than Likely lead to an increase of the income tax. This was a most unadvisable course in time of peace, as it took away the most fruitful source of raising large sums of money in time of war. The bill was then read a second time. VESTRY CESS (IRELAND) ABOLITION BILL. The house then went into committee on this bill. Clauses 1,2, and 3 were agreed to. The Earl of DOWNSHIRE moved the omission of clause 4 ; Upon which their lordships divided, when there ap peared— For the clause Against it Majority against The clause was then struck out. The bill was then reported with amendments. INCLOSURE BILL. This bill passed through committee. MARINE MUTINY BILL. This bill was read a second time. Their lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OP COMMONS---Last Evening. The Speaker took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills were read a third time and passed : The Lancasbire and Yorkshire Railway (Additional Powers) ; Swansea Yale Railway; and the Wrexham Water. The following bills were considered and ordered for third reading :—The Aberbrothwick Harbour, Chichester and Midhurst Railway (No 3), and the Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway. THE DU EY ON FIRE INSURANCE, &c. A very large number of petitions from different parts of the country was presented in favour of the abolition of the duty on fire insurances, and the Sale of Liquors Permissive Bill. HAINAULT FOREST ALLOTMENT. On the motion of Mr. COX, the following return was ordered :—Return from the inclosure commissioners set ting forth the several allotments of the 528 acres of the King's woods in the late forest of Hainault to the parish of Barking, and of the forty-two acres to the parish of Dagenham ; showing the names of the proprietors claiming allotments; the nature of the claim, whether for a house only or for house and land ; the amount of rating to the poor of such house or house and land; and the quantity of ground allotted to each claim, THE INCOME TAX. Mr. HUBBARD gave notice that, after Easter, he would draw the attention of the house to the imposition of the income tax, and move that such imposition should be founded on some recognised basis. PAPERS PRESENTED BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. Lord B. CECIL gave notice of a motion in reference to the mutilation of documents laid on the table by the council Of the Board of Education. ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. Mr, EWART gave notice that he would move for leave to bring in a bill for the abolition of the punishment of death. ',THE DUTY ON FIRE INSURANCE. Mr. HUBBARD asked the hon. member for Dudley rovhether he would postpone his motion for a bill to reduce theduty on fire insurances until after the Budget ? Mr. SHERIDAN said that the notice which he had on the paper for this evening to bring in a bill to reduce the duty on fire insurance, to which the Chancellor of the Exchequer had given notice of an amendment, he would postpone until the Chancellor of the Exchequer had made hie financial statement. (Hear.) THE BRADFIELD RESERVOIR, &c. Mr. FERRAND asked the Home Secretary if he would direct the engineer appointed to examine the Bradfield reservoir to visit and report upon the Doe Park reservoir. Sir G. GREY said that he had communicated with the Mayor of Bradfield, and the report of the engineer at the time was quite satisfactory. • NATIONAL EDUCATION (IRELAND). Sir H. CAIRNS asked when the returns relative to na tional education (Ireland) would be laid upon the table, and for what reason the annual report of the Commissioners of National Education (Ireland) for the year 1862 had not yet been presented to Parliament. Sir R. PEEL said that two returns had already been laid on the table, and the report for last year would be laid on the table on the Ist of June. As regarded any corre spondence between himself and the Chief Commissioner, he had no objection to lay it on the table. Sir H. CAIRN S said that the papers laid on the table were "dummies." (Laughter.) Sir R. PEEL said that was not true—(laughter)—as the papers were laid on the table when the members were leaving town, and therefore did not reeeive any attention. " EXPENDITURE WITHOUT ACCOUNT." Lord R. MONTAGU asked the Chancellor of the Ex chequer whether a sum of money was ever issued by direc tion of the Lords of the Treasury as " Expenditure without account ," and if so in what manner the same was brought under the consideration of the Commissioners for the Audit of Public Accounts ; and whether the expenditure was past by them after due examination of the vouchers for the subordinate items of expenditure included in that sum. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER explained that the expenditure alluded to was made in conformity with the requirements of the public service, end was pro perly accounted for to the commissioners for the audit of public accounts. RIFLING LARGE GUNS. Lord FERMOY asked the Under Secretary of State for War whether the trial of Mr. Lynal Thomas's system of rifling large guns was completed, and whether he had any objection to produce the report of the trials ? The Marquis of HARTINGTON said that a large gun had been manufactured, for which Mr. Thomas had not paid, in order to test the value of the invention, but the commi'tee had ordered that no further experiment should take place until the general merits of the invention had been ascertained. INCREASED APPLICATIONS FOR PAROCIIIAL RELIEF. In reply to Mr. KEREWICH, Mr. VILLIE RS said his attention had been called to the increase of applications for relief by the cas•ial poor, espe. cially in the southern districts ; but he did not consider, under the circumstances, that it was necessary to issue any instructions on the subject. BISHOPRICS, &c. (IRELAND). Mr. DILLWYN asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland when a return relative to bishoprics, &c, in Ireland, ordered on the 7th of May last, and another relative to the dioceses of Cashel, Emley, Waterford, and Lismore, ordered on the sth May last, and which, not having been presented to the house in the ciurso of last year, were again ordered on the 9th of Februity and the 12th of February last re mad be laid upon the table of the house. Sir R. PEEL said that one of the papers alluded to would be laid on the table this evening. PRISON DIETARY. Lord FF.RMOY asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the effect of the late change of dietary in Wakefield Prison on the health of the prisoners ; and whether he will lay a copy of the corre mpondence on the subject, together with the report of the medical officer, upon the table of the house. Sir G. GREY said that the system was being tested. At present it hnl not been in operation sufficiently long to enable the Government to form a correct estimate as to its practical merits. METROPOLITAN RAILWAYS. In reply to Mr. CRAWFORD, Mr. M. GIBSON said that he believed a bill would be introduced on the subject, but not until the report of the committee had been presented. COLLECTOR OF ASSESSED TAX ES BILL, In reply to an hon. member, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it was not the intention of the Government to hurry on this bill. COLONEL CRAWLEY. Mr. D. FORTESCUE rose to call attention to the court martial on Colonel Crawley, and to move for certain papers relating to the arrest of Sergeant-majors Lilley, Duval, and Wakefield. The hon, gentleman said ha wished to disclaim any intention of calling in question the verdict of the court-martial, because he considered that verdict was honestly arrived at. (Hear.) With. regard to his first stis.ta ment respecting the treatment of Sergeant-mefcr Lilley, great exaggeratien had been imputed to his description of the quarters in which the sergeant-major was confined, and great pains had been taken to show that they were spacicua and commodious, and indeed such was the case is regards the quarters in which he was first confined ; but his (Mr. Forteecue's) remarks applied only to the quarters in which Lilley was last confined, and in which he died. His state ments regarding:Lilley's wife also required some modifica tion, and ho was bound to admit that his spoech contained several errors of detail, but under the circumstances it was almost impossible to avoid such mistakes, It only remained for him to express his regret if, from any defects in the in formation supplied to him, or any unconscious perversion of that information on his part, he had been led to overstate the case and give a darker shade to a picture which in his opinion needed no such assistance. (Hear, hear.) He would now make a few remarks upon the arrest itself—a subject involving no less a question than the competency of any officer to suspend the clear and distinct provisions of the Articles of War. (Hear, hear.) The language of those articles was perfectly plain and explicit, They provided that no officer or soldier should be kept in confinement be yond a period of eight days before being brought to a court-martial. (No, no.) Well, at all events that was his reading of the article. And any officer keeping a soldier in arrest more than eight days without bringing him to trial, was liable to be cashiered. (No, no.) Now in this case three non -commissioned officers, who had been subpoenaed as wit nesses for the defence of a prisoner, were, after an irregular examination, placed under and kept in close arrest for several weeks upon a charge of conspiracy, which the Commander-in-Chief declared had not a shadow of founda tion. (Hear, hear.) This high-handed and arbitrary pro ceeding had been ;defended on the ground of emergency, and it was alleged that the regiment was on the brink of mutiny. But did any one really believe that ? (Hear, hear.) The only crimes alleged against these non-commissioned officers were, first, that they had read the defence of Captain Smales before it was delivered to the court-martial. That was a course of proceeding which they had an indisputable right to take. The second offence alleged against them was the unsupported assertion of one of the sergeant-majors against his comrades that they had used improper language against their commanding officer. The amount of credence to be given to that statement might be judged of by the fact that Sir Wm. Mansfield stated that the men could not ba brought to trial, and yet for weeks after that decision had been pronounced, these men were kept in confinement. (Hear, hear.) The question was, who was to blame for all this ? It would seem that tho sanction of his military superior exonerated Colonel Crawley from the responsibility of the arrest, and the verdict of the court-martial acquitted him of the charge of undue severity. The result of the ccurt-martial had caused much dissatisfaction throng hont the country--(hear, hear)—and it had tended to confirm the impression that, in a question between a superior and an interior, everything was rendered subordinate to what was called "supporting authority." But in that house there were many hon. and gallant gentlemen who had themselves occupied positions of command, and he would appeal to them whether they had not found that the best and surest way of maintaining their authority was to inspire every officer and private under their command with a full and perfect reliance on their strict justice. (Cheers.) He believed that the mischief done by all this unhappy business was incalculable—(cheers and counter cheers)—and that it would take years of administration at the Horse Guards to restore that military justice, which, if it ever existed, must have been shaken to its foundation. If it should awaken in the minds of the mili tary authorities a more resolute determination to do justice to all—no matter at what cost to individuals—no matter at what apparent sacrifice of authority—and, most of all, if it should lead to some sweeping damage in those antiquated forms of procedure—(cheers)—with their temptations to perjury—(cheers)—if such results attended the late court mat tial, costly and barren of result as many persons believe it to have been, it would have conferred a great and lasting benefit. (Cheers.) Mr. H. GRENFELL, in seconding the motion, said the only excuse he could offer for interfering in the matter was, that as a taxpayer, and as the representative of taxpayers, he was desirous of knowing why £lB,OOO hae been expended on this court-martial. Like his hon. friend, he did not find fault with the verdict of the court-martial, as it was con sistent with evidence given at the trial ; but although Col. Crawley was not considered guilty of that with which he was charged, he was morally responsible for the illegality of the arrest, and he was also morally responsible for being the principal party in an unjust court-martial. He sheuld like to know what hen. and gallant gentlemen opposite would have done if they had been placed in the position of the mili tary authorities of this country. He ♦ery much doubted whether they would have granted the court-martial. There were various opinions entertained about the best mode of administering the army. There were some who thought it should be absolutely administered by the Horse Guards, and others that it should be administered by the Secretary for War, with a council of officers around him. For his own part, he believed the Commander-in-Chief was bound by his posi tion to do dustice to all persons in the army—(hear)—and that he was bound to consult the feelings of one class as well as the other. He would go further, and say that if all the majors and colonels in the army were swallowed by an earthquake, there would be no difficulty in finding efficient persons ta supply their places. (Laughter.) But if a simi lar earthquake were to swallow the non-commissioned officers, it would be a difficult matter to supply their places. But if this was the case as regarded the Commander in Chief, it was still more the duty of the Secretary for War; for he could not forget that the Secretary for War had been a Liberal member of that house, and that, when ventilating a question relating to purchase in the army, he dwelt upon . the efficiency of non-commissioned officers, and recom mended that commissions should be bestowed upon them as rewards for their services. Various motions had been made for additional papers in this case, but he thought they had already enough of papers, and that, if they got any mere, they would only become confused as they did in the Schleswig Holstein affeir. The court martial on Colonel Crawley was like the Wyndham lunacy case, where, owing, be would not say to the incompetency, but the small calibre of the judge—(laughter)—the counsel on blth sides took every sort of liberty. Still it seemed to him that justice did not suffer in that case, as the liberties were taken on both sides; whereas, in the Crawley court martial the liberties were all on one side. The hon. member then referred to the dismissal of Major Swinley, in whose evidence, with a single exception, and that an extenuating one, he could not find any proof of animus, and he hoped they would hear from her Majesty's Government that justice would be done to this officer. (Hear, hear.) Lord LOVAINE rose to move, as an amendment, for copy of correspondence and legal opinions forwarded by Sir W. Mansfield from India to the Secretary of State for War and the Commander in Chief, relating to the legality of the Mhow court martial. The noble lord took exception to some of the statements made by the honourable mem ber who brought forward the motion, and said, so far as he could understand the evidence, it was perfectly clear that the sentry had never intruded upon Mrs. Lilley. Objections had been raised against the court martial, but he did not ■ee how the court martial could be considered unjust in the presence of the memorandum of the Commander-in-Chief, which he held in his hand. With regard to the proceedings which had taken plug in India, he thought it would not be denied that the military autho rities in that country had been hardly dealt with. The extraordinary thing was, that, after the case had been sub mitted to the judge - advocate--after the Commander-in- Chief had expressed au opinion approving of the proceedings —it was suddenly discovered that the court-martial was irregular, unfair, and should be reversed. That was owing to the calumnies of the Indian press, to their republication in this country, and their production before the House of Commons in the most exaggerated form. A victim was re quired; it became necessary to yield to pressure from with out ; and therefore, upon ex parte statements, Colonel Crawley was brought to court-martial in this country, and a slur was cast upon the whole Indian army. The noble lord then complained of the vacillation which had been dis played by the Government in the granting of papers re luting to the case. If they were resolved for the future to take a firm course, and refuse all further explanations, he should feel that he ought to withdraw his amendment; and, under the circumstances, he begged to withdraw his motion, reserving to himself the right of renewing it upon a future occasion. General PEEL said he had always deprecated interference on the part of the House of Commons with the discipline and command of the army. (Opposition cheers.) ?le drew the broadest distinction between questions relating to he maintenance of the discipline and the promotion of the army and matters appertaining to the civil administration of the army. At the same time he had no desire to debar that house from the exercise of the constitutional control vested in it with respect to the discipline of the army. They had a Minister of the Crown responsible for the administration of the affairs of the army, and if the House of Commons was dissati,,fied with the administration of the army they could remove the Minister. He most earnestly hoped that the Crawley court-martial case might never be drawn into a precedent. It had done more to weaken confidence in the governing powers of the army and the springs of discipline than any case that had occu:red in his time. He was not going to re-try Colonel Crawley, for in his opinion it was the Government which was upon its trial in respect to its conduct on this question. (Hear, hear.) There was a demand for a victim, and Colonel Crawley was offered up. He did not wish to be considered an admirer of Colonel Crawley ; on the contrary, he condemned him for, as it were, accepting the ovation of his men as he left the head-quarters to proceed to England to stand his trial. Undoubtedly such proceedings were subversive of the discipline of the army. It was said that no trial in India would be satisfactory to the people. Therefore, instead of trying the Man where the excitement existed, they brought him to trial in this country, and fortunately for Colonel Crawley it was that he was tried by court martial. (Cheers,) He (General Peel) was abroad at that time, but from the evidence he read in the daily newspapers he thought that the defence had commenced first, the statements of the witnesses being so entirely in favour of Colonel Crawley—and he thought it would be fair for the prosecution to retire from what might have been eelled persecution. (Hear, hear.) The hon. and gallant gentleman remarked upon the influence of counsel at the trial, and upon the calumnies in the Indian news papers and articles in magazines, and said that it was well for Colonel Crawley all these attempts had no effect on the honourable men who had to try him. They came to:the conclusion that he was fully and honourably acquitted of the charges brought against him ; and surely it might be thought an end of the case. (Hear.) The Commander-in- Chief in his memorandum had intimated that he had no intention of continuing the discussion upon the circum stances under which the trial arose. He thought it would have been well if the houso had followed the course of the Commander-in-Chief. Ho deprecated the placing of the confidential communications of officers on the table of the House of Commons, and he trusted that the house would agree with him that the beat plan was to come to the con clusion that the production of private papers would be in expedient. (Cheers.) The Marquis of HARTINGTON said the Government agreed with the right hon. gentleman that it was inexpe dient to produce papers that involved further discussion on that subject. He was sure no hon. gentleman could say that this subject had notnow been fully and amply discussed by the house, and thought the large majority would agree with him when he said that the time had at last come when this controversy should be brought to an end. In reply to the speech of the hon, gentleman who had brought forward this motion, he admitted now, as he admitted in reply to a simi lar speech of the hon. gentleman a year ago, that Sir Wm. Mansfield was held to be technically responsible for the continued illegal arrest during the Mhow court-martial; but he had explained that Sir William Mansfield was four hundred miles away from the scene where these occur rences took place, and had no opportunity of making con stant reference * to the progress of the proceedings. He was sure that no court martial would have found Sir Wm. Mansfield guilty of a military offence, and he submitted that to an officer of Sir Wm. Mansfield's distinguished talent the communication of the opinion of the Commander-in-Chief was full and ample punishment—if he might use that word —for any error of judgment he might have made. Major Swindley was censured for the manner in which he gave evidence against his commanding officers, but whether the evidence he gave might have been elicited from him in a peculiar manner he was not prepared to say. Whether Major Swindley wished to make the worst case he could for his commanding officer it was not for him to say, but it was quite clear from the evidence he gave that his feelings to wards his commanding officer were such that the regiment could not continue in peace and harmony if Major Swind ley went back and Col. Crawley remained the commanding officer. Major Swineiley was not actually placed on half pay, but was permitted, as it was called, to change to half pay. The other witnesses who were removed would before long be gazetted to other regiments. In reply to the speech of the hon. member for Andover last year, which related chiefly to the imprisonment of Sergeant-Major Liley, he had stated that Sergeant-Major Lilley had died in illegal imprisonment, and he stated as well as he could what led to that imprisonment ; but he was not prepared to come down to the house and give a victim to atone for the death of Sergeant-Major Lilley. He stated also that Col. Crawley was not responsible for that, and would not be tried for it ; but he promised that whatever circumstances of severity there were in the imprisonment should be investigated. This had been done, and this was the only promise Go vernment ever made, and the only promise Government ever thought it necessary to give. The Government had been of opinion that the surest way of getting at the facts of the case was to have a court martial on Colonel Craw ley, The right hon. gentleman opposite did not seem to think that the evidence was sufficient to justify that course, but he would remind him that they had the sworn evidence of Sergeant-Major Lilley on the Mhow court * martial, evidence which had never been cross-examined or contradicted, as to the manner in which the sentries were posted. They had also the admission of Colonel Crawley that undue severity and inhumanity had taken place in the imprisonment of Sergeant Major Lilley, but that he was not responsible for it. They had the letter of Lieutenant Fitzsimon contradicting that statement, which letter he had been induced to withdraw on the repro sentation of General Farrell that it was insubordinate, and would be ruinous to his future prospects ; though, in the opinion of the military authorities at the Horse Guards and the War-office, there was not one word or sentence that could be considered insubordinate or improper. Those were the grounds upon which it had appeared to her Majesty's Government that the trial was justifiable. It was true that they had had statements from India in explanation of the occurrences of the Mhow court martial ; but those statements did not go to disprove a single one of the statements which had been made by the hon. member for Andover. If he made an exception to that general statement, it was to ex press his regret that he had not explained last year that there was nothing unfit for human habitation in the house in which Lilley was confined, being the quarters in which he would have lived if he had not been under arrest. Com menting then upon the exceptiotts taken by Sir Hugh Rose to the remarks made by the Commander-in-Chief in his memorandum of Dec. 18, he denied that the Commander in-Chief had ever, in any material point of view, modified the opinion which he had expressed upon the imprisonment of Sergeant Major Lilley, or that the Government had ever sufficient materials in their possession to refute the state ments which had been made in the press, and that therefore they had no other course open to them than to order the court martial to take place. Referring next to the attacks which had been made upon the Government for having or dered the court martial to take place in England, he pointed out how unlikely it was, in the excited state of public opin ion which had existed, that the House of Commons or the country would have been satisfied with an inquiry con ducted in India, and insisted on the wisdom of the course which had been adopted by the Government, by remarking that the first thing which had taken place on the trial was an objection on the part of Colonel Crawley to the charges on which he was to be tried. This objection to immediate reference could be made to the Government, occasioned no difficulty, though if the trial had taken place in India it must have caused very great delay, and a reference to Sir W. Mansfield, the Commander-in-Chief in Bombay, in volving the legality of his own actions. If the inquiry had taken place in India, moreover. it would have been imputed to the Government that they were trying to shield the Indian authorities. The right hon, gentleman had severely condemned the conduct of the Government in giving any papers on the matter. While quite agreeing that it was undesirable for the House of Commons to make itself a court of appeal for the revision of courts-martial, or any other case, whether affecting civil or military affairs, he said it was useless, when a case had excited so much popular excitement as that of Colonel Crawley, to try and suppress the discussion of the House of Cammons, (Hear, hear.) He justified the production of the proceedings of the Mhow court-martial on the grounds that the hon. mem ber for Brighton (Mr. Coninghaw) had been permitted by the Speaker to read portions of the evidence in support of his statements last session, and that, as the Government were not then in a position to give an ample explanation of all the circumstances of the transaction, they had a right to know what had happened, and what the Government in tended to do. The production of the first papers had obliged the Government, in justice and equity, to produce the others. He would not follow the right hon. gentleman into the observations he had made respecting the conduct of the prosecution, as the Advocate-General would give an explanation of that. (Hear.) It was the opinion of many hth military authorities that what had occurred had not been in any manner prejudicial to the discipline of the army. It would, however, be fatal to the discipline of the army if at any time that discipline should degenerate into tyranny—(hear, hear)—and it would be almost fatal if even a suspicion of such degeneracy should be allowed to remain, Must serious stains had been cast upon the purity of military justice by the statements made in the newspapers and in the house last year, and the administra tion of military justice could only be vindicated by complete and impartial investigation, like that which had been made. No member of that house could rejoice more than he did that Col. Crawley was able to relieve himself from the im putations which had been cast upon him. Lord HOTHAM, after justifying an amendment he had put upon the paper, said he cordially concurred in the principle laid down by General Peel ; but this was an ex ceptional case, and exceptional cases required exceptional remedies, and when such things were done as had been done in this case there was more to fear from mystery and secrecy than in letting the whole truth be given to the country, He complained of some remarks made by Lord Hartington, which he thought derogatory to Sir William Mansfield. Lord HARTINGTON disclaimed any intention of dero gating from the high character of Sir IV, Mansfield. _ _ Mr. O'REILLY suggested that in tho prccsedings in India there had been violations of military 1,,w. Sir J. FERGUSSON cited certain expressions used by Mr. Fortescue last last year, in relation to the treatment of Sergeant-Major Lilley, fur which he thought an explana tion was due to the house. He reviewed and severely cen sured the spirit of the proceedings against Col. Crawley, who had suffered, ho said, grievous injustice, Mr. For tescue, in his opinion, bad only two courses open to him— either to apologise to the house for having been made the vehicle of gross falsehood, or to take exception to the find ing of the court martial. _• Mr. HEADLAM, after explaining the course he Ivid taken, as Judge - Advocate-General, with reference to the Mhow court martial, proceeded to reply to the objections °Eldred to the proceedings which had been taken against Colonel Crawley, justifying the bringing that officer to a THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 16, 1864. court martial, and the having the trial in England. He de fended the manner in which the trial had been conducted, and all the steps he had taken in a case in which unusual difficulties had presented themselves. Mr. MOWBRAY complained that Mr. Headlam had not fully explained hie course of action in reference to the M how court-martial and to Paymaster Smales. He complained likewise of the high terms in which he had spoken of Ser geant-Major Lilley, and that he had not touched upon the question of the legality and illegality of the arrest. As to the mode of conducting the proceedings at the trial of Colonel Crawley, he suggested certain points in which that mode was, in his opinion, erroneous, and that the fault lay with the Judge-Advocate-General. Mr. SMOLLETT thought, with Sir J. FERGIISSON, that the statement made by Mr. Fortescue last year ought to have been retracted, and that an apology was due to the house and the country. He read portions of the statement, and detailed facts which showed, he said, that it was almost wholly unfounded. He detailed the case of Paymaster Smales, and what he termed the inconsistent and capricious orders in his case; and in that of Colonel Crawley he con sidered that there was not a department of the Government that was free from blame. He thought there was no necessity for a court-martial upon that officer. Mr. DUTTON vindicated the conduct of Sir William Mansfield. Mr. BOUVERIE contended that Mr. Fortescue was unfairly censured for the statement he had made last year. In the first instance, he had grounds for the statement ; allegations were rife upon the subject, and it was necessary that there should be an inquiry, which had resulted in the vindication of Colonel Crawley, Colonel GILPIN thought the Government ought to pay the whole of the expenses of Colonel Crawley. The debate, which was continued by ➢lr. Neste, Captain Archdall, Colonel Dickson, Sir P. O'Brien, Sir W. Fraser, and Mr. Fortescue, in reply, terminated in the original motion being negatived, and the amendment being agreed to. Mr. BAINES obtained leave to bring in a bill to extend the Franchise in Boroughs. Leave was given to introduce other bills. The remaining business and orders having been disposed of, the house adjourned at five minutes to 12 o'clock. wife, and two children, who lived at Malin-bridge; and his own bedstead, with other Of his furniture, floated into the mills where he, with others, Was a prisoner —a distance of not less than 21 miles. In another part of Kelham island a man and his wife, who occupied a small cottage, on hearing the noise of the waters, went out to save their pig. Both were swept away by the torrent, and the pig as well. THE CALAMITY AT SHEFFIELD. The great mass of the flood waters seems DOW to have passed off from the Don, and the streets in its neighbourhood at Sheffield begin to wear somewhat of their old appearance. Not so, however, with the district over which the deluge poured. Many months must elapse before the buildings are re stored, and years must go by before the face of the country can wear the aspect of verdure and careful cultivation which it bore on Friday night. The river, though fallen, is far from being as low as it generally is at this time of the year, and every furlong of the stream's banks exhibit almost innumerable traces of the inundation—such as trees, balks, and beams of timber firmly embedded in its bed. The open land in this neighbourhood is still for the greater por tion under water, and, as that drains off, a number of bodies will, it is feared, be exposed to view. The large hollows which abound are being filled up by hundreds of cartloads of mud which are being de posited in them. The great manufacturers are busily engaged cleaning out their warehouses, and polish ing their machinery, which had become rusty by the water. Harvest-lane presents the same picture of mud, cinders, dead horses, cows, and pigs, that it did on Sunday. Bridgehouses was as busy as ever. The Whiterails has been cleared. A great portion of the thick deposit of mud has been carted away, giv ing the street somewhat of its usual appearance. In Nursery-street, with its now silent manufactories, is the Lady's-bridge. A great portion of the rub bish has been removed from beneath the arches, and the water now flaws freely as far as the Blonk bridge, where the stream is still impeded by a mass of rubbish. Blonk-street yet remains in the same state as on Sunday. The works in this vicinity are also stopped for repairs. As a rule, however, the damage done to the great manufacturers in the town has been slight. Mr. John Brown's works and those of Mr. Bessemer escaped without injury, and were at work as usual on the Monday following the calamity. Messrs. Caramel's works were only de ranged, so to speak ; but the new works building for Messrs. Naylor Vickers were rather serously damaged. Round Neepsend and by Hillsborough and Owlerton-road, where the great mischief fell, the inhabitants of the houses are busily engaged pumping the water out of the cellars. " Walters" and masons are engaged in rebuilding, wherever practicable, the walls that have been washed down. Further down in tho gardens opposite, at the other side of the river, a very painful incident occurred. Two or three men were en gaged in removing the rubbish of cne of the small, inhabited garden-houses. Near them stood a young woman, with two children clinging to her dress, the only ones saved from the wreck of their cottage. The rubbish had almost been cleared away when the leg of a human being was exposed to view. Brick atter brick was removed, until the poor woman recognised the remains of her husband. A little above where this incident occurred the corpse of a child was brought out of the mud in an open space near the Old Brewery. About 20 yards from this the body of a man was also found. As these bodies were carried on stretchers to the work house a large crowd followed, but the greatest order and decorum were observed by every one. Writing to the Sheffield Daily Telegraph, a corre spondent who resided on Bacon-island, thus de scribes what he saw in a glimpse of the flood : " I was seated at my fireside a little after 12 o'clock on Saturday morning when my attention was arrested by a strange noise, together with a shouting of many people. Alarmed, I hastened to my front door; upon opening it I was completely bewildered by the frightful sound that fell upon my ears. It has never yet been truly described, nor can it ever be ; the nearest approach to a correct definition of it that I have heard was that of a poor man whose house withstood the storm that swept away his furniture, &c. Sir,' said he to me, ' I heard it coming just like hissing thunder.' I was so stupified by this horrid sound that I did not see the wild waters immediately before me, nor did I dream of the nature of the calamity by which I was threatened, until 1 actually stepped into the water at my garden gate, lat once mounted the railings, and was ter rified by the sight of the rushing flood. Sharman's house was immediately opposite, only across the road. My eye had but just caught the waters foaming at its base, when the end fell into the flood, affording a glimpse of the rooms, furniture, Sic. It was but a glimpse, for in a moment the remainder of the house fell towards the road, and sank like lead in the waters, not leaving the slightest vestige visible. As I was not aware that Sharman and his family had escaped a few minutes before, I supposed they were all lost, and a thrill of horror came over me that caused me to turn my head from the deep that had, as I supposed, swal lowed them up. I then perceived that the waters had risen, and surrounded me in my garden. I at once leapt back and retreated into my house, which is considerably elevated above the road. The stream rose rapidly, until it reached 4t't above the level which it had attained when it swept away Sharman's house. As it had now reached my door step, I requested that my children should be taken out of their beds and carried to a neighbouring house on higher ground. Before this could be done I fancied the waters ceased to rise; presently I bad the happiness to see that they were subsiding, so that anxiety for my family and my self was at an end. When the 1t ood invaded it rose rapidly, but when it retired it seemed to sink slowly, very slowly. At length the road was clear of water (not of mud) ; we then perceived that the bridge leading to the island was swept away. Anxiety to know the fate of the cottagers on the island constrained some to creep over the top of the shuttle. I essayed to follow, and succeeded. Upon reach• ing the other side we found we were landed in chaos, and had to grope our way (the darkness was terrible) through thick mud, under and over trees, timber, stones, and wrecks of every kind. Upon reaching the cottages we were rejoiced to find all their inhabitants safe, excepting poor Wright, his wife, and the little girl who was visiting with them. The end of Wright's house jutted out into the stream wkich brought dow n a b eam t hat broke a large hole through it ; into this the s t ream p our ed until it threw down the front of nthiteuhreo,uasen,dcawrerytihnink Wright, gawaythe thehdoisorw,ife:and the child t oo ; stairs, all th e fur but, as the flood never reached the chamber in this house, we are driven to the conclusion that the three persons who perished must have been down stairs." In the Keiham rolling mills the escape of the workmen was very narrow indeed. The first alarm was given by a man who had be©n asleep at the bottom end of the mill, and who was awoke by the rushing in of the waters. He hastened to where his fellow-workmen were getting dinner—these men being what are called the "night shift" —and gave them warning. Fortunately, the gates of the yard were closed, and the men had no means of getting out by these means. Had :hey done so they would in evitably hav e b een sw ept away by the tide which passed in front o f th e buidings. They cli m b e d on the roof, and as has already been told contrived, in their extreme eagerness to escape, to set it on fire in doing to. But the more remarkable circumstance remains to be told. The man who gave the alarm, and who was the means of saving the lives of so many of his folio wsworkmen, lost his father, mother, MEETING IN AID OF THE SUFFERERS. A public meeting was held in the Town-hall yes terday for the purpose of considering and adopting such measures as may be deemed necessary to relieve the distress and suffering occasioned by this cala mity. The Mayor (Mr. Thomas Jes3op) presided. The Right Hon. Earl Fitzwil]iam, the Right Hon. Lord Wharncliffe, and nearly all the gentry of position in the town and neighbourhood, were pre• sent. Among them were the following—Mr J. S. Stanhope, Mr Dunn, Mr J. Brown, Mr W. F. Dickson, Mr W. Butcher, Mr S. Butcher, Mr H. Vickers, Mr T. W, Rodgers, Mr H. Rodgers, Mr S. W. Hawksworth, Mr H. Wilson, Mr J. N. Mappin, Alderman Matthews, Mr R. J. Gains ford, Mr H. Unwin, Mc C. Atkinson, Alderman Jackson, Mr H. Harrison, Mr M. J. Ellison, Alder man Fisher, Mr J. G. A. Crebwick, the Rev. Dr. Sale, the Revs. Mr Blakeney, Newman, Aldous, Wilkinson, C. Wilkinson, and Loxton, &c. The meeting was crowded. The MAYOR having briefly opened the proceed ings, Earl FITZWILLIAM,who was received with cheers, moved—" That the fearful inundation which has caused such awful loss of life and such immense de struction of property, necessarily occasioning wide spread misery and desolation, calla upon the inha bitants of this borough and neighbourhood and all who sympathise with the sad event at once to sub scribe so as to alleviate as far as possible this great distress, and that a subscription be now come menced." On such an occasion as this, added his lordship;it affords me the very deepest gratification to perform a duty at once so pleasing and melan choly. A subscription has already been commenced ; noble sums have already been subscribed to alleviate the sufferings caused by this dreadful calamity. We must bear in mind that the first thing to be done is to alleviate those whose all has been taken from them. I fear that to a very large extent this will be found to be the case. Not only have persons, but families been swept away. Those whom we are accustoa,ed to call the " bread winners" have been li swept away in many cases, leaving fatherless fami lies. These are the cases which must first call for our attention, and to these cases our subscriptions must be first directed. (Chem.) That there is other wide •spread distress no doubt is true, and that, I hope, can in time be alleviated. Bat the first must be alleviated, and that immediately. (Cheers.) I will not detain you longer than by making that one observation, because I am sure there is so much to be said on such an occasion as this, so much detail to be gone into, that I should be taking up too much of year valuable time were I to trespass long by making a speech. I shall be happy, as you know I always am, if I can come among you to assist with pleasure on such an occasion of alleviating the distress of, as I will call you, my fellow townsmen. I do not know whether any kind of subscriptions have yet been made known, but I wish on behalf of myself and family to subscribe £l,OOO. (Protracted and reiterated cheers.) To the mayor and gentle men who will form the acting committee I must be allowed to say that I hope what I give will be most speedily placed to the use of those who most need it. (Loud cheers.) Lord WHARNCLIFFE, who was most warmly greeted, said—Yesterday I addressed a meeting in the Council-ball, and I ventured on that occasion to recommend the people of Sheffield to make such a subscription as should be worthy of the town, and I am happy to find that the few words I said on that occasion have borne some fruit. (Hear.) The mayor informs me that the sum of £6,000 is available for the purpose of relieving the distress occasioned by the inundation. I have often occasion to sit in the place in this court where your worthy mayor now sits, and although my duty on these occasions are sufficiently melancholy iu their nature, yet these only refer to evils which we may hope in the course of time to extirpate altogether, but this is one of those calamities which no human means, by any possibility, can totally and thoroughly alleviate. (Hear, hear.) It is a calamity involving not only the loss of fortune and happiness but involving also the loss of life, which is the thing that touches us most nearly. lam happy to see that we have been honoured by tho presence of the noble Lord Lieu tenant of the Riding, who has shown such readi ness to meet the men of his county in this matter, and who is now, as he ever is, ready to open his teart and his purse to all who come to him in need. We all owe him our most sincere thanks for his mu nificent donation on this occasion. (Hear, hear.) I hope every one of us will do his duty in like man ner. (Hear,) The example that has been set us by the highest in the room ought to be followed down to the lowest. This is not an occasion on which to indulge in platitudes as to the necessity of subscribing. (Hear.) The necessity is one which we must all feel, and I believe the county at large is quite alive to the intense suffering that has been occasioned in its neighbourhood by this disaster. (Hear,) I believe we shall find that the whole of England will rally to the assistance of the people vi hose homes are desolate in the same way as we have rallied to the relief of their distress in every other part of the country when any calamity has fallen upon it. We need not refer to the Holmfirth or the Hartley catastrophes, or to the more extended calamity which prostrated the whole of Lancashire. I hope we shall find the whole of England will meet together to render assistance to us in the time of need ; but, as I said yesterday, we must first set our own shoulders to the wheel—we must first set the example. That we did yesterday to some ex tent.; don't let us fail to-day in doing our part. I have great pleasure in seconding the resolution pro posed by the noble lord. (Loud cheers.) The resolution was carried. The Rev. Canon SALE, D.D., Vicar of Sheffield, moved a resolution appointing a committee to receive and distribute funds, 8.73. Ho congratulated the meeting on the readiness which all classes of society had shown to unite together for the furtherance of this good work. The Archbishop of York had sent a subscription of £5O, and would have attended this meeting if he could have possibly neglected press ing engagements at York. (Applause.) Mr. T. DUNN seconded the resolution. He ear nestly impressed upon the town the necessity of united action, and called upon the young men of the town to band themselves together to seek out deserving objects, and bring their cases under the notice of the committee at once. He was afraid the distress would prove wider spread than they were aware of at present, but he had no doubt that the sympathy of the people would be equal to the relief of it. The resolution was carried. Mr. J. BROWN moved that the Mayor be requested to act as treasurer. Alderman VICKERS seconded the motion, and an nounced that the town trustees, at a meeting this morning, had agreed to subscribe £5OO. (Cheers.) Councillor HARVEY, who spoke amid some ex pressions of disapprobation, was of opinion that the leading gentry of Sheffield had not done enough to show their sense of the overwhelming nature of the calamity. He urged them to double their subscrip tions, and then they would have a good case on which to appeal to the country. Dr. HALL, speaking as a medical man, said there could be no doubt that if the mud and filth were not soon removed from the houses, some serious epidemic of fever or other disease would result. Mr. J. DODWORTII, a small manufacturer, sug gested that the working men of Sheffield should each give one day's wages. His men had done that, and he had no doubt the working men could raise in that way £lO,OOO. He gave £25. (Cheers.) The re - olation was carried. Mr. J. Yeomans (town clerk), Rev. J. Aldons, Mr. C. Doncaster, and Mr. T. Chambers were ap pointed honorary secretaries of the committee. Mr. W. S. STANHOPE, of Cannon-hall, said he would call a public meeting in Barnsley, and he had no doubt that meetings would be held throughout the length and breadth of Yorkshire. With regard to Mr. Dodworth's suggestion, it appeared that the workmen of Messrs. Guest and Chimes, of Rotherham, had agreed to give the sum of £lOO, at least, by setting apart portions of their earnings. Mr. S. ;G. CRESWICK, of Ecclesall-grange, sug eested that property owners who had houses empty s h oa l, offer them to persons rendered houseless by the flood. (Cher: 79 Mr. MARCUR SMITH, age2t to the trustees of the Duke of Norfolk, announced that thei would sub scribe liberally, but he had not yet received in structions as to the amount. Several suggestions for the collection of old cloth ing, the distribution of coals, &c., were made, and on the motion of Earl Fitzwilliam, seconded by Lord Wharncliffe, a cordial vote of thanks was passed to the Mayor. The committee met at 5 o'clock in the Council hall, and began operations at once. At the close of the meeting the following subscriptions were an nounced :—Earl Fitzwilliam, £1,000; Town Trus tees, £500; Lord Wharncliffe, £200; Charles Cam mell and Co., £200; Milner and Sons, Liverpool, £100; Harrison, Hawson, and Co., £100; Martin and Hall, £100; Mr. Benjamin Huntsman, £100; Mr. George Dawes, £lOO ; Marsh Brothers, £100; Mr. J. F. Mappin, £lOO ; Thomas Rawson, and Co., £lOO. Other subscriptions were afterwards received, raising the total to over £ll,OOO. Mr. Roebuck telegraphed that his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales will head the subscription. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TIMES.—We publish this morning a letter from M. Mazzini in explanation of the circumstances under which Mr. Stansfeld's name has been brought into connexion with the Greco plot. That explana tion, so far as it goes, is satisfactory, and answers exactly to what would have been expected. As M. Mazzini denies having had any communication with Greco on the subject of this plot, it is obvious that he cannot be expected to offer any explanation of the finding of a letter among Greco 's papers direc ting him to write for money to the address of Mr. Stansfeld. All that he can do is to explain the circumstance of Mr. Stansfeld's address having been known to Italian conspirators and used by them at all. This he does by frankly admitting that, in order to prevent letters to him from being intercepted by continental authorities, he has asked his English friends, and among them Mr. Stansfeld, to allow letters to be addressed to him under feigned names at their houses. That he had given any instructions for letters to be so addressed to him on this affair he, of course, entirely denies. Now, what we have to say upon the matter is only this—that we ought not to have received this first instalment of explanation from M. Mazzini. It and every other explanation which it was in Mr. Stans feld's power to give ought to have been readily, im mediately, and courteously offered to the Emperor of the French, to the House of Commons, and to the country. The tone of high moral indignation adopted by Mr. Stansfeld, and on Monday night by Mr. Layard, was entirely out of place. Of course, if an in sinuation of so terrible a character had been dropped without their being a particle of fact to justify it—if the Procureur-Imperial out of mere malicious suspi cion had charged members of the English Govern ment and of the English Parliament with being connected with an atrocious conspiracy, the lan guage end tone adopted would have been the only one possible. But, on the contrary, looking on the matter as a mere question of evidence of tact, there were prima facie grounds for the insinuation. A letter is found among the papers of a man convicted of a conspiracy to murder, in which .he is directed to apply for money to pro mote his infamous purpose at the address of an English gentleman. This money, moreover, was to be supplied to him by Mazzini, and Mazzini was known to be on intimate terms with the gentleman in question, and to have " been in relation " with the convict. t is not too much to say that, supposing the letter to be genuine —and its genuineness was assumed by the French prosecution—these circum stances present a chain of evidence which justifies the moderate language used by the Procureur-Impe rial. Instead of resenting it, Mr. Stansfeld ought to have gladly taken the opportunity to disentangle his name, and the name of the country, the House of Commons, and the Government, from the odious connection into which they had unfortunately been brought. But the very reverse of this is the course pursued by Mr. Stansteld. He refuses explanation, he even goes out of his way to defend the man who, not altogether without apparent reason, was accused of having been the instigator of the conspiracy, but he had not one word to express his regret at his ad dress having been made use of by such miscreants. When we see from M. Mazzini 's letter that Mr. Stansfeld had himself placed his house in danger of being thus abused, the tone which he has adopted on the subject is the more unbefitting his position. If the Emperor of the French were only a private gentleman he would have just cause to feel indig nant, But the Emperor of the French is much more —he is the head and the representative of a great nation, and a wrong done to him is a wrong done to a noble and generous people. He is, moreover, our steadfast ally, and has displayed to us innume rable instances of goodwill and friendship. Has he not, then, a right to claim that those persons who represent our foreign relations should express their regret at a circumstance which has given one of his high officers of State occasion to complain in open court that the house of a member of Parliament has been abused for the purpose of abetting a conspiracy against his life? If the agents of a Go vernment by any mistake or accident do, or appear to do, anything which infringes on the rights of another, it is the reasonable custom of diplomacy to anticipate complaints by ample explanation, and, if necessary, by apology. Bat here is an accident, a misconception, what you will, which seems to implicate us in an attack upon the highest per sonage in a neigbouring nation, and neither the gentleman himself concerned nor the gentleman who represents our foreign resaions in the House of Commons expresses any regret, makes any explana tion, but both treat the whole matter in a tone of indignant indifference. M. Mazzini put these gen tlemen to shame. He is not called upon by any public considerations to make explanations in the matter, but a simple regard for Mr. Stansfeld's posi tion induces him to come forward and say what he can, Whatever his faults may be, he shows him self more sensible of what is due to his friends than Mr. Stansfeld or Mr. Layard. PoST.—The British officers who were so rashly accused of wanton and needless cruelty in Japanese waters have had their character satisfactorily vin dicated. The documents read by Mr. Layard in the House of Commons, on Monday night, have com pletely swept away whatever suspicions might have still lingered in prejudiced minds as to the bombard ment of Kagosima. Whatever the reluctance of those whose philanthropy and benevolence may have clouded their judgment, to listen to a defence of Admiral Kuper and Colonel Neale, offered by Englishmen, they cannot at least refuse to yield their credence to the testimony of Japanese wit nesses. The murder of Mr. Richardson, and the brusque rejection, by the Daimio Satguma, under circumstances of intentional insult, of the claims preferred by the British, are facts the t have never been in dispute. Those who undertook to inculpate Admiral Kuper and Colonel Neale have never questioned these facts; never thrown the least doubt upon them. This being premised, let us proceed to hear what account the Japanese them selves give of the subsequent train of events. Prince Satsuma's own officers and repre sentatives, who came after the capture of his ships and the bombardment of his for tress had brought that dignitary to reason—to pay the indemnity and negotiate a convention, are the witnesses whose evidence is now before us. And what is their testimony ? They tell us in so many word that Prince Satsuma, in contemplation of an attack by the British fleet, had the population of the town of Kagosima withdrawn to the neigh bouring villages further in the interior of the coun try. When the steamers were seized information was sent off with the utmost despatch to the Deimie for orders. The orders, returned with equal speed, were to fire on the British ships. The Japanese officers took advantage of a typhoon to open their batteries on our squadron, thinking that our ships would be rendered helpless, and their guns would be made ineffective by the storm ; and this very cir cumstance was the cause of the fire being blown into their pasteboard town. The fire, however, might have been easilfput out had not the inhabitants— men, women, and children—previously removed to a place of safety. Pasteboard houses are easily ignited and burn rapidly, but they have also the advantage of being built up again with equal facility and despatch ; and the Daimio Satsuma's own agents and representatives state that the damage was being rapidly repaired, and what houses had been destroyed were being rebuilt. This, they said, the'British might see with their own eyes if they visited the town. The only Japanese who were on the spot when the broadsides of the English ships were directed against the Daimio's fortress were some six thousand of the Daimio's troops, who were on duty and in part engaged in serving and man. ning his batteries. One very characteristic and suggestive circumstance is disclosed by these native witnesses. According to their account, such of the six thousand soldiers as were not necessary to work the batteries were stationed as a reserve in the rear of the fortress, where, until required to act, they were to remain out of danger from the British shod' and shell. And we are told by the Daimio's agents with great naïveté that when the garrison was thinned off as the bombardment proceeded, these reserves were so terrified by the English fire, that they evinced the utmost reluctance to go into the works and take their places at the guns ; and it was not without the greatest difficulty that they flould be prevailed upon to do so. This is the o h am 7teristic of what is called Oriental civilisation. Readiness :o murder in cold blood the unarmed and defenceless, or a single individual when t here is a host to attack him, . is united with the extreme of e pusillanimity when real Nan: Mess and bravery ar e But this fact h as required to face real danget: - hat a powerf ul another significance ; it shows' a i,saio had under force—six thousand soldiers — the D In addl .. arms to garrison his fortress of Kagos: ma. -Yenta of tion to the statements of the Japanes 6 ther ew Prince Satsuma, we also are in possession of ° o f facts equally conducive to a right understanding the matter. The town of Kagosima, instead of COtv taining one hundred and eighty thousand people, only contained forty thousand, who, as we have seen, had retired up the country into the villages out of harm's way, when it scented danger afar off, and their absence was the reason of the fire not being extinguished as soon as it was caused, a" they on their return, after the bombardment over, speedily set themselves to reinstate theif fragile and inflammable dwellings. It was only el few stray shots of those aimed at the batteries an 4 fortress that chanced by accident to enter the town; and then the typhoon, which they bad hoped would cripple the English squadron end derange the pre* cision of our fire, blew the flames from ono house to another. But the testimony of the Japanese envoy! shows on the face of it that the damage done eoulo neither be serious where it occurred, nor at all Vsid, e3 spread. Thu following passage in Colonel Neait ° statement deserves particular attention I deem it desirable to add," says he, "that the popele tion of Kagosima at no period exceeded forty thousand souls, and not one hundred and eighty thousand, as has be'n strangely imagined to serve as a more striking text for cotssments; and, fur' tber, that those forty thousand soulde—merif women, and children—withdrew while their huts and paper houses incurred the risks attel' dant upon stray shot and shell from a British squadron, audaciously fired upon the numerous bat' teries because it hal signalled its intention to obtain redress for a barbarous murder and outrage coo" mitted upon a British subject for which all re dress had been evaded. Subsequent events, the voln ir tart' payment of the indemnity demanded, the formal obligation entered into to execute the reel' derers of Mr. Richardson when arrested, the pre' fessions of friendship cheerfully expressed by Prince Satsuma's envoys on behalf of their chief, their d 8 1; sire to cultivate friendly and social intercourse vs: t e the British nation, and their graceful offerings ( 01 fruit) to the crew of the flag - ship of the Bri tish admiral, after the facts of Kagosima, would all W Y' ply that the agents of her Majesty displayed i; degree of cautioc, and moderation duly appreciat es i by those most deeply interested." We never ha u any doubt that the officers who represented Ear land in Japan did not exceed their duty, but Per formed it wisely, bravely, and well, to maintain till honour of their country and defend the lives 0 0 British subjects. But we certainly must be lie/ that the reaped and good-will exhibited by Pri se° Satsuma's agents were really due to the vig our ' promptitude, and decision with wtiich Col. Nee l° and Admiral Kuper acted, rather than to any °the a considerations whatever. Had our officers behavt o in a way that would in the least have borne the interpretation of wavering or timidity, the SW: nese, who only understand the arguments of far? would have regarded us with profound conte rer and would very probably have expressed it, t o g ' ther with some other characteristic sentiments , b ; a general massacre of all the English in the c osti j try. This, of course, must have been chastised, thus a long and furious war might have been e'; tailed upon us with a compact nation of some thir,,J millions of people at the Antipodes—a war invey,,, ing the lives of thousands, and the waste of pr elo 'o tionate treasure. As it is, this calamity has bet o, averted, by the wise vigour of two British 0006 0 whose eminent services have brought upon tbe the most unjust incriminations, COUNTRY MARKETS. 11 , - LEEDS—TUESDAY. 1, re The show of wheat is not large this week, but Le - f o ii no change from the values of last Tuesday, and a ver y business was done. Barley and other articles remain same as last week. LIVERPOOL—TUESDAY. There was a good attendance both of town and cotto tri o dealers at market to-day. Wheat met with but a moderp demand, at last Friday's rates. Oats difficult to move, nominally unchanged in value. Flour more inquiredll and full prices obtained. Barley and peas again meta sale, at late quotations, but Egyptian beans were is ro qr dearer on the week. There was a better business do 6d od in Indian corn, and American prime mixed brought 2°' to 28s 9d per 801bs. MARKET HARBOROUGH—TUESDAY. oe , White wheat, 42s to 44s ; red, 37s to 41s per 36 WO Malting barley at 33s to 35s per qr.; ' grinding, 270 to 3V per 30 tit. Oats, old, 27s to 395; new, 20s to 24s pe r at. ; beans, 32s to 36s per qr. BRISTOL—TUEBDI.Y. ttg Our market to-day was fairly att en d e d, an d a - be ,o4 business than recently was transacted i n a ll sor ts of at about last week's rates. SHEFFIELD—TUESDA Y. A 0 There was a fair attendance of millers to-day, an— show of grain was about the. average. 4 0 ,1 Red wheat, par load of 3 imperial bushels...lss Od to lu Q ; oil White If f f f ...18s Od W V f New red ..156 6d to J ail 0 New white ~ - .. 1 7s Od to 1:00 Beans ...15s6dto!'s 0J , ff ff Peas, per qr 4os Od to 1 4 0 0, Grinding barley, per qr Malting ditto, ~ 328 Od to ‘ , l# l7 ' 0 9 Oats l9s Od to g'" ..___ 11 _ Flour; le 4d to 1e 8d per 14 lb. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. 0 .ustralia and Mauritius, via Southampton 14 0 it via Marseilles Apt t, Brazil and Cape Verde, by Briti s h p ac k e t. r Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena 1. 1 4 0 China, Penang, and Singapore, via S o uthampton N, 1 4 ' — via Marseilles 181 1"‘ Falkland Islands ls' Gibraltar via Southampton MO' 1 0 ' - -.x. 14 India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton... f g';:n via Marseilles P 6 V India (Bombay), via Southampton lV l3 r' 0 via Marseilles. Id A r : i 1 0 P ° /1 Portugal.... ~a r, 1 ,i, Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton ...... t u fo , via Marseilles lq I 14 6 r. Newfoundland • . 11r Oporto and Vigo . .. M '0 U. S. and British N. Am er i ca , b y B r it. p ac k e t.... —,j, by U.S. packet.......r, + 4 by Canadian packet.Pri, lr W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe 1 0 0 Bahamas, via New York D'O t ' 0 Mexico.. All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, gat' California. and British Columbia. N• 0 [ADVERTISEMENT.] Holloway's Pills. 0;1 4 Better.—These invaluable Pills e xert a greater 011 o beneficial influence over nervous disorders than al 090 medicine. Their mode of action is thoroughly 0 ° with reason—they completely purify the blood, relle.,„el) head and stomach of all faulty functions, and eaoluif oppressive accumulations from the bowels. With lor l d purified and all poisons purged from the system rid 01 must prevail throughout the body ; ach es and P:01 doe cease; healthful energy must suppl a nt wear iness, c oo lf , shaky nerves must regain their w h o l esome tone• f ts loo l of these Pills eradicates l ow s pi r it s , nerv ous ele i 0,0 hysterics, neuralgic twitch es , an d othe r deraug B o olo l depending on nervous maladies, which every c° l2_ ,i person may thus certainly and safely remove. Births. rletw BUCKSTONE.—On the 13th inst., at Peak-hill, SY - Mrs. Bnckstone, of a daughter. th e '. '.° CHAMBERS. — On the 11th inst., at Teignmoutht ° of Major Chamb ers , 6th I nn i s killi ng Drag° off son. POLE.—On the 13th inst., at Kensington, the Wi fe o Pole, Esq., F.R.S., of a daughter. Marriages. gi. pQQe tet U HELSHAM—FORLONG.—On the 16th lt h e Colombo, Ceylon, Captain Henry Helshanip s t h A . to Matilda, daughter o f C a pt a i n F or long i (King's Own Borderers). the O d ell c f PRICE—RICHARDSON.—On the 10th inst„ a. Meeting House, Neath, Henry Habberly Pr ice ' o e li $P the Neath Abbey Iro n W or k s to Mary Ei . °'l.v . daughter of Joshua Richardson, .hkg., Neitth. 0 , Deaths. 8 9. • BINNS.—On the 13th inst , at Highbury, W rilti° 'B O moot Mans, aged 50. . if sig W if° BINNs —On the 13th inst., at Bayswater, P--- of' ls Binns, aged 66. J° (1 BIINNETT.—On the 14th inst. , at New Cross-r° s ' 1 , Bunnett, Esq., aged 67. e 1P 3. 1 , GREY.—On the 13th inst., at 18, Cadogan - P l9 0 - Grey, eldest son of the late Hon. Colonel Willis , aged 56. or e SMITH.--On the 14th inst., at Chilton Lodge, 11 / 1 11 0 1 Berko, Thomas Smith, Esq., aged 70. II $OO W Abbotsfield, C ARDELL.— the 14t ahged ins77t , William War cle° 0 On hester, WALMESLEY.—On the 13th inst., Ellen, Woo o f tlie lo e d 7/ Jonn Walmesley, Esq., of The H a ll of Ince, ag ed , 00 London: Prtraed and Prbilehed by WILLIA- 11 :; c . 1414' 4 • of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at I.llx SUN cod ) Strand, In the Precinct of the Savoy, th e MitidleseX,—Wednesday, March 10, 1864